KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (KREF) is a commercial real estate (CRE) mortgage REIT that originates floating-rate, first-lien transitional bridge loans secured by institutional-quality CRE properties. KREF's borrowers are typically experienced real estate sponsors who need short-term bridge financing while executing a business plan — lease-up, renovation, or repositioning — before refinancing or selling an asset. KREF's loan portfolio totals roughly $5.9B, consisting primarily of senior CRE loans (~$5.4B), a small CMBS B-piece portfolio (~$45M), and real estate owned (REO) assets (~$503M net) acquired through borrower defaults. KREF earns money on the spread between interest income on its loans and the cost of its debt financing. Since nearly all loans are floating-rate (benchmarked to Term SOFR, SONIA, or EURIBOR), net interest income moves with benchmark rates. KREF uses leverage (~3.9x at year-end 2025) across repurchase agreements, CLOs, and term lending facilities, with roughly 74% of secured financing in non-mark-to-market facilities that reduce forced-sale risk during market stress. KREF is externally managed by a KKR subsidiary and has no employees of its own, relying on KKR's broader real estate platform for deal flow, underwriting, and asset management. KREF is expanding into European CRE lending and growing its CMBS B-piece portfolio as yield-enhancing complements to its core U.S. loan business. As a REIT, KREF distributes the majority of taxable income as dividends, currently $0.25/share per quarter.